Articulation for link jewels



1 RIGOLLET n A1.

ARTICULATION FOR LINK JEWELS oct. l7, 1930.

Filed' March 18 1925 2 shgets-rshet 1 Pfg. n.

l y; 2 Loma 1171301101 A- A Sereni-'fno ZoPPfln INVENTorzS @j ,@Mp TTo//v K Oct. 7', 1930.v

L. RlGoLLE-r ET A1. 1,777,679

\ ARTICULATION FOR LINK `JEWELS Filed March 18, 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented doet. 7, 1930 um we 7 e f 1,777,679:v N

PATENTbFFlcE hours nIGonnE'r AND sERAFINo ZOPPINI,` or PAR-is Fahnen; sAinzorriiir ssrenon c TosAIDRIeoLLET Y 7 n An'rrcULATroN ronLrNK JEWELS' 7 Appncationlsd March ifs-1925? serial nopiezaadin rinceyirajs, 1e24. .e

i i Linkjewels such aschains, bracelets, neck- Vlacesandjlthe like having adjacentvisible outer faces usually lornamented or `decorated as at present manufactured `have* the serious 1" `5 defect of gapingatithe jointsjgi. e. their junction lines open' owing "to the said adj acent outer -faces being constrained to take aV certain degreeiof obliquitywith respect to one lanother'7 soas to permit the linkt-jewel (a linkbrac'elet for example) to tightly` and `accurately encompass the part of the humanbody intended to wear such ewel `(the wrist in the case of xlink-bracelet). Such "gaping of i thel'adjacent faces of the jewel is .veryconspicuous and it]` unpleasantly interrupts the stheticcontinuityof the lines, curves or dec` orations `composingthe ornaments `or decora-7` `tive eects provided onthesaid faces. Itis due to the `fact that the axis of articulation 7 of saidadjaczent outer faces is situated at a certain distance below their level, the said dis` tancebeing in proportion to the thickness of the links,4 `to permit `the :latterto` be socketed for the purpose,v of accommodating therein the g bottom" lof` gems I adapted for adorningthem@ y J The present invention has foritsobject to lprovidean improved articulation forflink- 7 Vjew`els,"*`said :articulation being adapted for permitting tl'ieiradjacentwouter faces to vremainlclosely joined irrespective of the vary!A `ing Obliquity-which they mustl take`to one .anotherfwhen for instancethe jeweli (alinkbraceletoreaV -link-armlet Vfor: example) en i Compasses the wrist or the arm of the wearer.

` Such resultlis attained by arranging the axis of articulation/of theouter visible faces ofthe Alinkljevv'elexactly e ush with said outerfacefs and accurately on their Ajunction line.V e l NVithythismainjobject `in view and such others as will incidentally appear hereafter,

\ the invention comprises th`ef7n"ovel;l construc- Y spectively a portion of'arlinkijevvel.asinanu-v facturedheretofore., J

een to s iuustfatem similar views and" tion and' a rangement 'o f 'partsthat'iwill now be de'scribed., f i

Inthe accompanying drawings i 7 ',.1'to` V"4:1,illustrate ninV edge and plan Iviews ands'traightlan'd curved positions repositions a portionof improved linksjewel as,manufacturedinow*according to thepres ent inventiona` 7 u l 1 Figs. ,9 to 116 illustrate the `details offcon-` struction of two embodiments lofthe novel articulation according to the invention.

' Figs. 17 to 19 illustrate on-a larger scaleA the 7' A.plan views respectively and in rectilinear and convex `positlons'a length of a hnkfjewel as manufactured heretofore and comprising by way ofexample three adjacent links,y the "outer 4facesaf, offwhic'h arejoinedat I) when in their rectilinear positionijsaid links beingarticulatedat c. A designates a decorative effect providedyon said faces. .As will be seenylas `soon as-the links are curved `'with respecttoone another jas shown' 1n Figs". 3 `and 4f, their louterI faces a` cease to be Joinedlat` b, since illustrate a further embodi- Y scf angles cZ-r-(varyingiwith thedegreeof curv'faL Y ture having their apices' fat said` articula'- saidlinks and cause them ito Vgape, thus i un.- Ypleasantly and.` conspicuously interrupting the aestheticlines or curves of their outer decl ktionsjc occunbetween thecontfiguous faces of s loraftive effects such Vas A7. orndisturbingl the" i pr V.per position 7eccupied bythe gems thereon ,A y

Such drawbacks are `"the `novel construction and arrangement of Iparts ft'hatgwill now :befullyfdescribedl77 In Figs. 5 to 8 is lillustrated in similar respective "views7 andxpositionsl a portion of link-j ewel manufactured in accordance with theinven? tion`,`and-also` comprising by ofexaniple three adjacent Alinks V@having flatf` outer faces forcarrying gems or the like and articulated to ione another by means offspecial devicesdiagrammaticallyshown in dotted lines at c and having their axis of articulation at c lush with the outer visible flat faces of said links whereby the said faces are always joined at b irrespective of the link-jewel lyingon the flat as shown in Figs. 5 and 6 or occupying a. curved position as shown in Figs. 7 and 8. This novel arrangement of the articulations between the adjacent links eliminates their gaping and the concomitant inaesthetic disturbance ot their decorative effects.

Several embodiments ot the novel art-icu-4 lation diagrammatically shown in dotted lines .at c will now be described in details with reference to Figs. 9 to24 inclusive of the drawing.

According to the embodiment illustrated in Figs. 9 to 12, each articulation c comprises two companion elongated plates l, 2 having their cooperating ends curve-bevelled shaped in opposite directions and formed respective ly with curvilinear `segmental ribs 3, 4 and grooves 4a, 3"", the ribs on the plate 1. being adapted. for engaging the corresponding grooves 8 in the plate 2 whereas the ribs i on such latter plate are adapted tor engaging the corresponding grooves 4a in the plate 1, all such ribs and grooves being concentric with respect to `a geometrical centre o (not shown in Figs. 9to 12) situated on the junction line b of thetwo adjacent 'links of the' jewel, as clearly represented in Figs. 5 to 8. The ribs and grooves have a sliding fit so as to allow of the necessary angular displacement when the adjacent links require to take a certain obliquity to one another to properly conform to the corresponding part of the human body. Such angular displacement is limited by the provision of a narrow shoulder 5 on the middle part ofthe Vplate 2 (see Fig. 12) and by the provision or" a comparativelj7 wide notch 6 on the corresponding` part of the plate 1 (see Fig. 9), said-` shoulder 5 engaging `said notch 6 and thus limiting the angular displacement to its width. 1n Figs. 17 to 19 is shown the juxtaposition of the Vcompanion plates 1, 2 and theirV mounting with respect to the adjacent links of the jewel. F ig. 17 shows how said plates 1. 2 are imbri'cated and interconnected with their respective ribs rand grooves in engagement. Each link a is'formed orprovided on both sides (see Fig. 24) with a pair of slightly spaced lugs or flanges L, 7L at right angles to its outer visible face a, said pairs of lugs being terminally Obliquely cut for providing between the lugs on the adjacent links invented V-shaped clearances having their apices flush with the junctionfline ot the links. Moreover, the space g between said lugs is so dimensioned as to provide a sliding fit for the two j uxtaposited companion plates 1, 2 as shown in Fi'g19. The plate 1 is soldered, ,welded or otherwise secured to the outer lug L on the one link a whereas the plate 2 is similarly soldered.

welded or otherwise secured to the inner lug L on the adjacent link a', or vice versa. As the ribs and grooves on the plates 1, 2 are concentric relatively to a geometrical centre c situated on the junction line Z) ot the two adjacent links and moreover have a sliding fit, they can be mutually displaced under a curving stress exerted upon the said links whereby the jewel is caused to take a convex shape tor embracing the wrist or othervpart ot the human body without gaping to any extent irrespective of its convexity. The latter is however limited by the 'width ot the notch G. on the plate l, said widthbeing so calculated as to suit practical requirements.

According tothe modification illustrated in Figs. 13 to 16, the notch 6 in the plate 1 is done away with and replaced by an elongated opening 6 (see Fig. 13) whereas the shoulder 5 on the plate 2 is also done away with and replaced by a pin 5a (see Fig. 16) which can freely move in said opening 6l and allows the two adjacent links to be spread apart over a distance equal to Z -'Z/ (see F ig. 18).

According to a further embodiment ot the invention illustrated in Figs. 20 and 21, the articula-tion device c presents the shape ot an inverted T and is located between the lugs 71,; the web portion tot such T is inserted into the groove g whereas its wing portions 7c are located in two arcuate` grooves j both having their centre at c', on the junction line of the outer faces a, a of two adjacent links; these grooves are formed in each ot the lugs 71,. In order to limit the degree of tilt that the said outer faces can take to one another, pins Z are provided on'the articulation c and are adapted to slide within slots m formed in the lugs 7L.

Lastly, according to a still further embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figs. 22 and 23',the articulation device c is constituted, on the one hand, by a curved tube n located-within the groove g between the lugs JL, soldered, welded or otherwise secured to the inner wallV of one lug pertainingto one of the links and having its centre of curvature at cfand, onthe other hand, by a wire o soldered, welded or otherwise secured to the inner wall of the opposite lug pertainingftothe adjacent link, said wire being inserted into the curved tube a. Owing to this arrangement, the adjacent outer'faces a, a of the contiguous links can freely pivot about the imaginary centre c so as to take several mutual inclinations without producing any gap on their visible surface, whereby the continuity ot the linesconstituting their decorative eftects is preserved. c

It will be understood that-such [an articulation device c as has been described is duplicated on bothrsides of the .links constituting the jewelA and accommodated between1V each of the two pairs otlugs h formedorprovided on said sides of the links, as clearly shown in While the preferred embodiments of the j invention have been described, it will be appreciated that numerous modifications could be made without departing from its spirit p and scope. Thus other articulation devices c such devices being characterized by this crucial feature that their axis of articulation c .l would always be situated flush with the outer faces a of the links and line b. l j Y What we claim and desire tosecureby `Letters Patent is j Y l. An articulation device for adjacent links `on their junction lets, comprising a pair of flanges carried by each of the two longitudinal edge portions of ing faces of articles of jewelry such as brace-VV l each link, and angularly movable pairs of cooperating hingevmembers carried respectively by said adjacent links and located pairwise between their flanges, the rectilinear geo'- metrical axis about which said pairs of hinge members can be angularly moved coincidin outer faces. i

- 2. An articulation device for adjacent links having liat and rectangular outer gem-carry lets, comprising vpairs of inward lflanges formed integral with the longitudinal edge portions of each link and terminally bev! eled out-,and pairs of relatively movable in terengaging hingeplates Vcarried bythe links and located pairwise between each pair of j their flanges, the rectilinear geometricalaxis about which said pairs of hinge plates can be angularly moved coinciding with the rectilinear meeting edges of the Vlink outer faces.

3. AAn articulation device for adjacent links i having fiat and rectangular outer gem-carry# ing faces of articles of jewelry such as bracelets, comprising` pairs of inward flanges` formed integral with the longitudinal edge portions of each link and terminally beveled out, and pairs of hinge plateshaving interenwise intermediate their respective pairsv of j 5. An articulation device'for adjacent links having flat and rectangular outer gem-carryj ing faces of articles of jewelry such as bracelets,` comprising pairs of inwardly directed side flanges formed integral with the longituout, hinge plates each .having alternately arranged' segmental ribs and grooves, the ribs 4of oneplate entering the grooves of the conhaving flat and rectangular outer gemecarrying faces offarticles'of jewelry suchlasbrace! tiguous plate, said hinge plates being carried respectively by the adj acent links and located pairwise intermediate their respective pairs of flanges, said ribs and grooves having their centers of oscillation on the rectilinear meeting edges of the link outer faces.

6. An articulation device for adjacent links having flat and rectangular outer gem-carrying facesof articles of jewelry such as bracel g lets, comprising pairs of inwardly directed l with the rectilinear meeting edges of the lilnk Vplates being carried respectively by the ad` jacent links and located pairwise intermedi-` and-grooves having their centers of'oscillationlon the rectilinear meeting edges ofthe link outer faces, and means `for limiting the angular movement vof thehinge plates relatively to one another. i l

names to this specification.

LOUIS RIGOLLET.

- SERAFINO ZOPPINI.

gaging recesses and projections carried re j spectively by the adjacent links and located pairwise intermediate their respective `pairs of flanges, the rectilinear geometrical axis about which said pairs of hinge plates can be angularly moved coinciding with the recti- Y linear meeting edges of the link outer faces. .l 4. An articulation device for adjacent links having flat and rectangular outer gem-carryf ing faces of articles of jewelry such as brace,-` lets, comprising pairs of inward sideflanges formed integral with the longitudinal edge Dort-ions of each link and terminally beveled out, pairs of hinge plates having interengagj ing recesses and projections carried` respectively by the adjacent linksand located pair- .dinal edge portions of each link substantially at right angle thereto,and terminally beveled In testimony whereof wehave signed our i i ico ate their respective pairs of flanges, said ribs i 

